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BAGHDAD — Iraq’s government is holding off on an all-out offensive to retake two key cities from
al-Qaida because of fears that civilian casualties could incite Sunni anger and push moderate
tribal leaders to side with the extremists, analysts and military officials said yesterday.

More violence flared in Baghdad, where a suicide bomber killed 21 people at an army recruiting
center in a clear effort to demoralize the military.

Al-Qaida-linked fighters overran parts of the cities of Fallujah and Ramadi in Sunni-dominated
Anbar province last week, seizing control of police stations and military posts, freeing prisoners
and setting up their own checkpoints.

The United States has ruled out sending troops back to the region but has been delivering
missiles to bolster Iraqi forces. It is expediting shipments of American-made missiles and 10
surveillance drones, but those might not arrive for weeks.

The Senate is looking more favorably at a request to provide attack helicopters, but a top
senator has not yet given the Obama administration a green light to go ahead with military
assistance that Iraq wants, Reuters reported yesterday.

Robert Menendez, D-N.J., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has held back on
supporting the lease and sale of several dozen Apache helicopters to the government of Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki without assurances that al-Maliki won’t use them against political
opponents.

Vice President Joe Biden has spoken to al-Maliki twice this week, voicing support for his
government’s efforts to regain control of the cities and urging him to continue talks with local,
tribal and national leaders.

Iran, too, is watching the unrest with alarm, because it shares U.S. concerns about
al-Qaida-linked militants taking firmer root in its neighbor. It has offered to supply military
equipment and advisers should Baghdad ask.

Iraqi troops have clashed with the fighters mainly on the outskirts of the cities and carried
out occasional airstrikes against their positions. But they have held off launching major
offensives to retake either. One senior intelligence official said the reason for the delay was to
avoid civilian casualties.

“We have enough soldiers, but we are waiting for the American drones and missiles. These weapons
will have a big role in the coming battle,” the official said.

Tribal leaders in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, have warned al-Qaida fighters there to
leave to avoid a military showdown, and there were signs that residents were trying to restore a
sense of normal life, however precarious.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch warned that a government blockade of Ramadi and Fallujah is
limiting civilian access to food, water and fuel.